Number of cigarettes cleared for sale in Hungary falls sharply

David Landry

Thursday, November 21, 2013, 12:00

The number of cigarettes cleared for sale in Hungary fell 24% to 7.6 billion in January-September from the same period a year earlier, business daily Napi Gazdaság said on Wednesday, citing data from the Tax and Customs Authority.

National Economy Minister Mihály Varga said in an interview published in daily Magyar Nemzet on Tuesday that official data showed no significant changes on the black market for cigarettes since a state monopoly on retail tobacco sales was introduced in July.

In the interview, Varga also assured that the most recent round of tax laws passed by Parliament will more greatly impeded black-market tobacco sales.

Measures included in the bill call for reportage of non-cigarette items such as rolling tobacco and a new regulation allowing rolling papers and rolling machines to be sold only in National Tobacco Shop outlets.

New years should be about turning over new leaves, to change life for the better amid optimism that things can only get better -- This couldn’t be more true for Hungarians, who have every reason to surrender to some wishful thinking in light of the past difficult years. Yet...

After the initial regulations for design of National Tobacco Shop outlets have proven to be a boon for holdup artists, the central government will now loosen the guidelines, perhaps eliminating the opaque storefront windows as a start...

While naturally no official statistics exist on the black-market tobacco trade in Hungary, a report from Agence France-Presse claims that “several smugglers” have informed that business is brisk after introduction of the National Tobacco Shop scheme...

Two more national tobacco shops are state to install online betting terminals under auspices of the law which created the government-run monopoly system in a move the opposition is quick to label as fostering addiction and representative of Fidesz-wide corruption...

A decline in tobacco sales could cause a HUF 40 billion shortfall in revenue from excise tax and VAT, business daily Napi Gazdaság reported, a situation serious enough to require the attention of the National Economy Ministry...

A new round of statistics from the National Tax and Customs Office (NAV) shows that the purchase of cigarettes in Hungary has declined dramatically since the National Tobacco Shop scheme went into effect: Almost 40% month-on-month and over 50% year-on-year...